| Have a little Faith, Chapter 5 |
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She still seemed unhappy. He had tried
to accommodate her-- tried to give her as much leeway as
he thought was possible. He agreed
to stay in Sunnydale to defeat the mayor and then to stay one
month more to see Buffy graduate high school.
But, she wanted complete control. When Buffy's new watcher came,
it had so infuriated her that she quit the council. He pulled back
on Faith a great deal because he was afraid that she would follow Buffy's
example. This made the last couple of weeks extremely difficult for him.
This was his first and what would be his only time as a watcher and he
was already going against his own beliefs on how to train the slayer.
He preferred a rigid discipline.
She even insisted they fly first class to
LA. The council gave in, only because they knew what she was
going up against. Wesley had been unhappy with it. Faith did not
need the indulgence. However, she was still unhappy about Giles being
fired even if it was months ago. When Wesley asked Faith when her birthday
was, she refused to tell him. She just told him that on her eighteenth
birthday, she would be the one given him the surprise, especially if he
did the same thing they did the Buffy. He suspected Faith had not
yet reached 18.
He was at least glad Giles talked some sense into her. Except for some mean-spirited wise cracks, she seemed to be doing what he asked. Of course what he asked was not as difficult as what he intended.
She also did not carry a watch. They
had to call Lindsey from the plane at 8 o'clock. Every two
minutes she asked what time it was.
"Time?"
Wesley sighed. Looked at his watch. "7:58."
"2 more minutes."
"Would you like me to call?" he said, frustrated.
Faith shook her head. "Linds knows me, don't know you."
Giles had called Lindsey a week ago to tell him Faith and Wesley were on their way. Wesley was to act as Faith's father. He got a job working in a public library. The council had rented them a two bedroom apartment in downtown Los Angeles. Wesley was not sure about Lindsey McDonald. He seemed to be pleasant. Even warned Faith that once she became a burden to Wolfram and Hart, he would have to send assassins to kill her. Otherwise they would become suspicious of him.
"Time?" she asked again.
Wesley looked at this watch and handed her the cell phone.
Lindsey had several untraceable cell phones. Faith had gotten some too. They would use one, then toss them out every month.
Faith dialed the number. She had memorized the number almost immediately. She had not talk to him in a month. She had Giles call him just in case. She was so excited she nearly dropped the phone when he picked it up on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Hey Linds, you'll never guess where I'm calling from?"
"I'd say the plane." His voice sounded tired and strained.
"Got it on the first shot," she said and laughed. "Safe to talk?"
"I'm in the car on the way to hell," he replied.
"You holding up okay?"
"Five by five," he joked.
"Angelus suspect you?"
"So far no, the mind readers haven't picked up on anything, thank you Giles." Faith was not sure about telling him about Giles being fired, so she decided not to. He already had enough on to think about.
"But there haven't been any random sweeps so they don't suspect anything, but they will once you show up."
"I should be in LA in about half hour."
"Best to not tell me where you are. Though eventually they will find out."
"Linds, you want out, I can still get you out-" Faith said and ignored Wesley's sharp look. Because the council had fired Giles they had change the agreement about Lindsey. The council had told him under no circumstances was Lindsey to get out until he served his purpose.
"No," he said, a little deadpan. "I
helped start this, I'm going to finish it. Angelus likes to hunt
at around 3am in a park in Watts.
Lots of other vamps too because the park's filled with homeless.
You may want to show up there and accidentally um-run into him."
"Okay, remember Linds, you're out as soon as you want. Fuck the council."
She did not care when Wesley gave her another sharp look.
"Thanks, I appreciate it, but I'm staying put for the long haul. I have a lot to make up for. Just realize that I'll be acting like your worst enemy. So if I call you a fucking bitch, I really don't mean it."
Faith laughed. "Oh sweetie, I take that as a compliment."
"Anyway, there's a place on West Hollywood Blvd that sells stolen cell phones. Does a very good job. The numbers should not be linked back to you. Pick up a few, okay?"
"Yeah."
"Good luck on this. Angelus is pretty vicious. You should hear what he wants to do to Buffy once people find out he's back."
Faith did not say anything. She didn't even think that Angelus might want to come after B.
"You there?"
"Listen, you got to keep Angelus away from Buffy. He really put her though a ringer."
"I'll do what I can."
"Thanks, and Linds, you keep yourself alive, k?"
"I'll try."
"You think the council would get better than this crap," Faith commented, when Wesley and she entered the very tiny two bedroom apartment.
"I work at the public library, we need to show we can afford it. It's best that we keep a low profile."
The apartment did have a large living room. Wesley planned to put no furniture there it was a good place for Faith to train. There was a small sitting room they could use for meetings.
The apartment was already furnished with two beds and a bookcase of some basic occult books.
"I call this bedroom," Faith called out from
the bigger of the two bedrooms. Wesley could hear her
jumping up and down on the bed.
Wesley did nothing to stop her, he just groaned. He went into the kitchen-no teakettle. He put that on his list.
"Wes!" Faith screamed out. "We need a TV!"
"We have no time for television."
Wesley heard Faith stop jumping. She ran into the room. "I wanna TV."
"Faith, be serious, we're here to stop Angelus. There is no time for television."
"I want a TV," she said, sternly. "It's not like I'm asking for a home entertainment center. I want a TV."
Wesley sighed. "I'll see what I can
do. But you won't be getting a big one and it might not be color.
No cable either."
"Just a TV is fine."
"Anyway, I'm going out for supplies, besides a television, it there anything else you need?"
"Food and lots of it!"
"You need to stay in shape."
"Slaying makes me hungry and horny, so you can pick which one you want to satisfy me with."
Wesley did not say anything.
"As long as you balance it out," he said. "I'm buying you lots of vegetables."
"Just not cauliflower or broccoli or green beans. Better not buy lettuce either-"
"Faith, you need to stay strong."
Faith frowned, then knocked Wesley over not
that hard, though he fell with a thud on the floor and
smiled. "I am strong."
"You seem distracted, Lindsey," Russell Winters said as they watched video tape from a party. This was Russell's methods of finding new girls.
"Sorry, sir," Lindsey said. "I've been busy."
"Oh, yes, Holland's new pet project. The other vampire. I'm no longer the favorite son."
"I'll take care of you sir, that's what I'm
here for. Wolfram and Hart is a full service law firm and
Angelus isn't paying us."
"Good, I want her," he said, pointing at
a young woman. "Her name is Denise, she wants to be an
actress. She has a beautiful rose
tattoo."
"I'll alert the firm that this young lady
may constitute another long-term investment," Lindsey
said, deadpan. He tried to tell himself
that getting Angelus was the important thing, but if he set up this meeting
with Denise and Winters, Denise's life was over. But if he could
help Faith kill Angelus,
hopefully soon, he could stop all this madness.
He was personally looking forward to staking Russell
Winters.